Pirated Bounty Hunter
by Rutaka
Summary: Months after the events of Zero Mission, Samus Aran continues to hunt down the remnants of the Space Pirates, but what happens when the Galactic Federation decides to take extra steps to protect the galaxy? rated T for violence, please read & review
1. Prologue

**Author's Note – The only Metroid games I've beaten are the Metroid Prime series (including Hunters) and Metroid: Other M. I might include other games in the fanfiction, and intend to play Metroid Fusion (eventually), but for the most part I'll be using information from the Metroid Wiki for the fanfic.**

**This fanfiction takes place between Metroid: Zero Mission and Metroid Prime. As far as I know, there is no "official" timeline of Metroid games, but if you go to the Metroid Wiki and search 'timeline', there is a fan-made article on events in Metroid. Obviously this isn't canon, but it makes sense and a lot of work was put into the article.**

**Disclaimer – I do not own Metroid or any of its characters, they are the property of whoever created them. Other characters introduced in this fanfiction belong to me.**

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Prologue

The burning eyes of Dr. Conleth glared at the computer screen as he read the battle report.

"37% of the Space Pirate fleet orbiting the planet Zebes was destroyed. Only three of the research frigates, Siriacus, Vol Paragon, and Orpheon survived." Dr. Conleth said to himself as he read the report.

"Space Pirate Commander Kraid suffered heavy damages and was defeated in Norfair, as well as General Ridley, who was critically injured. Space Pirate Leader Mother Brain was destroyed, and her remains scattered by her own bases self-destruct sequence. On top of that, the Space Pirate Mothership exploded before it could even leave the planet."

Dr. Conleth scratched his chin as he continued reading. "And the only ship to escape the Mothership's explosion was piloted by the famous bounty hunter, Samus Aran, who was responsible for the majority of the Space Pirate fleet's destruction, as well as wiping out all forces guarding Mother Brain's bases, and defeating Kraid, Ridley, and the Mother herself using an 'ancient' set of Chozo Power Armor adapted for Human use.

The doctor's eyes gleamed with interest. "And according to this report," he said as he brought up another file on the computer, "she was once offered the position of Space Pirate General by Mother Brain, but refused. This 'Samus Aran' was not only the key to winning the Battle of Zebes, but also the determining factor in most of the Galactic Federation's recent victories against the Space Pirate forces, thanks to her advanced Chozo technology."

"If Federation scientists could somehow copy this Power Suit, Space Pirate forces would be greatly outmatched." Conleth's eyes narrowed. "However, if Samus Aran were to reconsider and accept the Pirates' offer, or if their 'Science Team' were able to produce copies of the Power Suit first, the Galactic Federation's doom would be all but guaranteed."

"It looks like I'm going to have tip things to our favor." The doctor said as he pushed a button on a device that looked like an intercom. "Captain Gedeon, contact our supplier."

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**Author's Note – And another adventure for Samus Aran begins, soon after the events of her Zero Mission.**

**Please read & review!**


	2. Galactic Betrayal

**Author's Note – Sorry about the long-winded explanations here, I'm not very good at descriptions. I hope this chapter isn't too confusing.**

**Because this takes place between Zero Mission and Metroid Prime (and since Samus' ship was shot down in Zero Mission), Samus is flying the gunship shown in the first Metroid Prime.**

**Also, I'm going to try showing Samus' character as she is in Metroid: Other M, so for any readers who didn't like her in that game, you probably won't like her here either.**

**Thoughts are in italics.**

**Disclaimer - I do not own Metroid or any of its characters, they are the property of whoever created them. Other characters introduced in this fanfiction belong to me.**

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Galactic Betrayal

Samus scanned the view in front of her, looking out at the stars in the darkness of space and occasionally guiding her ship away from an asteroid.

She was flying through a mostly empty sector of space on the edge of an asteroid field, headed home after collecting the bounty on another recent mission. According to the Galactic Federation Star Charts, there was nothing around here except stray asteroids, but Samus felt tense, like there was something here, hiding from her.

Sound filled the cockpit as the gunship's radar came alive, showing four other spacecraft emerge from behind a large cluster of asteroids she had just passed seconds ago. As two of them pulled up behind her ship, just to the left and right of her ships thrusters, the other two came into view as they flanked the sides of the gunship.

Samus recognized them immediately. Each of the ships were about as big as her own gunship, with a cockpit like a round bulb sitting on the front of the body, and a long strip of metal extended backwards from the rear of the ships top side, like a fin. On the sides were what looked like large, steel barrels, which had long rectangular pieces of metal extending from the front of the barrels that reached out ahead of the rest of the ship. They were Galactic Federation Stiletto-Class fighter ships.

As Samus realized this, a fifth ship appeared and flew behind the escort of fighters. The gunship's scans revealed it to be an Anhur-Class patrol ship, a GF ship that was used to patrol areas of suspected Pirate activity. It was a rectangular ship with a back that ended in a large hemisphere, with large, wing-like sheets of metal attached to the sides of the hemisphere. The cockpit was covered over with solid metal with cameras placed on the front and sides. Attached to the sides of the ship, from the back end to the middle were large plates, each of which had two pairs of beam launchers for shooting down Pirates.

Samus was confused about their presence here. There must have been Pirates nearby if they were this far out, but the arrangement of ships wasn't a normally used flight formation. On top of that, the way the ships were hiding seemed to suggest they had been waiting in ambush. In any case, the escort they were giving her didn't seem friendly, and the ships on her sides were preventing from turning.

A beeping sound filled the cockpit as Samus received a transmission from the Anhur-Class ship. Samus accepted the transmission, and as the lights dimmed a view screen showing the closed helmet of a Galactic Federation marine appeared.

Samus studied the figure on the screen carefully. "Who are you? What is this about?" She asked.

The figure on screen took a moment to respond. "Bounty Hunter Samus Aran, this is the G.F.S. Enyalius." The marine who seemed to be the ship's captain said slowly and calmly. "I'm going to have to ask that you shut down your ship's engines and allow yourself to be towed to the nearest Galactic Federation shipyard."

This news took Samus by surprise. What had she done to draw this kind of attention from the Galactic Federation? Samus spoke carefully. "Why are you doing this? Am I under arrest?"

"We have received orders to retrieve your ship and your Power Suit." The captain of the Enyalius said. "You are not under arrest. However, we must ask that you shut down your engines and accompany us to a Galactic Federation shipyard."

Samus' eyes narrowed as she asked, "Why? Who ordered this?"

"The Galactic Federation believes that if a bounty hunter with your kind of skill and technology were to side with the Space Pirates, it would endanger innocent lives," The captain said, his voice still slow and calm. "And considering your unexpected resignation from the Galactic Federation Army, it is unclear where your loyalties lie, so I must ask you again to give up your ship and Power Suit."

Anger boiled up in Samus. This man was demanding that she give up the Chozo's gifts and insinuating that she was a traitor! Samus' mind was reeling with thoughts. '_After all I've done to help the Federation, why has this suddenly been ordered? What could the Federation hope to gain by taking my Power Suit? And how can this marine make these demands in such a calm, almost emotionless way? _Samus' voice became hard as she said, "You still haven't answered all of my questions. Who ordered this?"

"That is classified information." The captain said steadily. "This is your last warning. Shut down your engines, or we will arrest you."

Glaring at the marine, Samus pushed a button on her ship's command console and activated the ship's combat systems. The cockpit glared red as the orange plating running from the sides to the top of the ship and the stretch of metal going from the upper hatch to the ship's thrusters lifted up to reveal twin Power Beam turrets and a rear mounted Plasma Cannon. "I don't think so, captain." She said as she cut the transmission.

Before the Federation ships could react, Samus aimed the Plasma Cannon at the fighter to her back left and fired at its right arm. The pilot turned away as the cannon shot a large, bright red beam at the arm of the ship, which smoldered red as the plasma grazed it before breaking off. As it flew away, it forced the other fighter on her left side to move out of its way, giving Samus an opening to escape the escort.

As she turned to the left to get away, the G.F.S. Enyalius opened fire with its lasers. Samus quickly barrel-rolled upwards and turned towards the right to the other three Stiletto fighters as they came around to face her.

The fighters fired twin lasers from the cannons on either arm at Samus' gunship, which Samus easily evaded and fired back with the Power Beam turrets, aiming for the sides of the ships and the metal that connected the body to the arms of the fighters, trying to disable the ships without killing any soldiers. As Samus closed in on them, she noticed that the fighters were flying out of formation. The ship that had been on her left was much higher and to the side of the other two, and one on the far right was flying ahead of the others.

Samus was quickly broken out of her thoughts as the ship's alarm blared a warning. The main screen showed that the gunship had been locked-on to by a Stiletto fighter coming in from behind. Swerving to avoid the shots, Samus barely avoided colliding with the incoming fighters. Swiftly turning around, Samus followed the fighters and saw that the straggler that attacked from behind had lost it's right arm; it looked as if the plasma damage caused it to explode when it tried to fire. The middle ship of the group of three fighters had a badly scorched side, and the metal seemed twisted. It looked like a simple Power Beam shot to the engines would disable it.

Once again the radar blared as the G.F.S. Enyalius began tailing Samus, trying to get a clear shot. Samus turned left, then swerved to the right and flew up. When the Enyalius moved to follow, Samus fired the Plasma Cannon, burning through the patrol ship's left wing. While the pilot of the Enyalius tried to compensate for the change in maneuvering, Samus turned to avoid the lone incoming fighter, and shot the top side of another ship. The craft swerved uncontrollably as the hull began to spark until eventually coming to a stop.

Before Samus could switch targets her ship rocked as the Laser Cannons of the Enyalius struck the back edge of her gunship. Avoiding more fire from the remaining three fighters, she managed to destroy the other arm of the fighter she had shot with the Plasma Cannon.

Moving to the right, Samus found herself headed straight for the Enyialus, with both remaining fighters turned around and heading for the front sides of her ship. As they closed in, Samus tilted the gunship vertically and flew in between the fighters, forcing them to pull away. While she turned to chase them, the Enyialus began aiming at her ship, but just as they fired Samus' Plasma Cannon cut straight through their right wing, throwing the Enyialus off course and destroying it's maneuverability.

However, the lasers still connected with the top of Samus' engines. Samus was beginning to get worried. It was a Hunter-Class Gunship, so it had strong armor for dealing with ship-to-ship battles and surviving a hit or two from anti-air cannons, but there was very little armor over the engines. She would have to finish this fight quickly, or her own ship would be disabled.

Down to only two Stiletto fighters, Samus quickly chased the more damaged of the ships. A single shot to the engines would disable it, and Samus quickly aimed a Power Beam shot at it, but as it connected, the entire back end of the fighter began to spark brightly.

"NO!" Samus screamed in her ship as the fighter erupted into flames and shrapnel. While Samus stared at the destruction, the last Stiletto flew off, into the asteroid field.

Samus was horrified. The pilot of that ship had been trying to capture her, but he was only an ordinary soldier, following his orders. Even accidentally, Samus could only blame herself for the pilot's death.

A new warning alarm told Samus she didn't have time to grieve. Her gunship had taken serious damage from the battle, and needed to land so it could repair itself. While scanning the Star Charts for the nearest planet, the radar revealed that there was a nearby space station, despite the fact that nothing was supposed to be in this sector. But, with no other place to go, Samus de-activated combat mode and set a course for the un-identified space station.

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The gunship's engines whined as the ship flew into an empty hangar bay in the station and hovered low over the floor. Samus came out of the hatch on the top of the ship and looked around the area. At the far side of the hangar was a door. Above the door, in the upper level of the hangar was an observation deck. Samus could see a row of control consoles through the glass, which probably controlled the hangar, as well as three doors, one in the back wall and two on either side of the observation. A catwalk ran from another door in the right side of the hangar's upper level along the right and back walls to the observation deck's side door, and continued out the other side of the deck, running along the back and left walls, stopping just short of the middle of the left side. The left end of the catwalk where it stopped suddenly seemed to glow with a purple light, and not far from it, further down the left side and about halfway between the floor and the upper level was a rectangular piece of metal slightly extending out of the wall. The side of the metal facing Samus glowed the same purple color as the end of the catwalk.

There didn't seem to be anything like a staircase or elevator connecting the floor of the hangar to the upper level, and the glowing metal in the side of the hangar was too small and high up for her to reach the catwalk. Her gunship would need some time to repair itself before she would be able to leave, so Samus decided she might as well look around and try to find out what this station was doing here.

Samus jumped down from the gunship and began walking towards the far door. When she was almost halfway across, a blast lock appeared and covered the door! The hangar filled with the sounds of metal on metal and heavy footsteps as the doors in the back and sides of the observation deck and the door in the right side of the upper level opened. Space Pirates flooded out of the door in the right wall and the back of the observation deck and took places on the catwalk and readied their weapons! Samus backed up as she was quickly outnumbered. She kept her eyes on the Pirates and her Arm Cannon ready as she looked for cover, but the entire floor of the hangar was empty except for her gunship, too far away to help.

The Pirates took aim…

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**Author's Note – Sorry, I couldn't help creating a cliffhanger.**

**The Anhur-Class patrol ship appears in Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, while the Stiletto-Class fighters are from Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. I realize that the scans in Corruption say that the Stiletto is a new model of fighter during that game, but there are no other regular fighter ships that the GF is mentioned as having, except for the Delta-Class (the ship that Sylux flies in Metroid Prime Hunters is a prototype Delta-Class called the Delano 7), and since I didn't feel like making up my own ship I just adapted the Stilettos for this fanfic.**

**According to the Metroid Prime website (when the first Prime came out) Samus' gunship in that game had twin Power Beam turrets and a retractable rear-mounted Plasma Gun, but were never shown. Pictures of the gunship in Prime show grey orbs with stick-like pieces of metal towards the front of the ship's sides, but these weren't shown in the Metroid Prime Hunters pics so I improvised. I suspect the Plasma Gun may be the same type of weapon as the one Anthony Higgs has in Metroid: Other M.**

**Also, weapon systems in the Stiletto and Anhur ships were never identified or shown in-game, so I had to improvise with their weapons as well.**


	3. The Galactic Federation

**Author's Note – A little longer this time, some plot expansion, stuff.**

**Something I forgot to mention, I said that this would take place between Zero Mission and Metroid Prime, but didn't say when, which would be about 5 months after Zero Mission.**

**Some of the paragraphs get a little large as well.**

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The Galactic Federation

Samus was surrounded on three sides by the Space Pirates on the catwalks above her, the only cover was her damaged gunship behind her at the back of the hangar, too far away to reach. Samus could hear the Pirates' weapons charging, and she readied her arm cannon as well and took aim at one of the Pirates. '_If I'm going to die here, I may as well die fighting._' She thought.

Samus tensed and the Pirates leaned forward as both sides were about to open fire when a commanding voice yelled, "Stand down!" Samus almost shot a Power Beam in surprise as she heard this, then cursed herself for leaving herself open, but saw that the Pirates were also hesitating. She was even more surprised at this, especially since only she should be able to hear a com-link transmission sent to her, when she realized that the voice had come from the hangar's observation deck.

Looking up at the deck, Samus saw what looked like an orange-headed Space Pirate in a strange set of armor that lacked a helmet standing in the center of the observation deck. To the Pirates' right, standing slightly behind him, was another Pirate who wore a gleaming suit of red armor, clearing showing that the armor's wearer was a high-ranking Space Pirate soldier. Even stranger was that the other alien in the helmet-less armor seemed to be very short for a Space Pirate only reaching to just below the red Pirates' chest.

The shorter Pirate yelled again, "I said to stand down! Are you disobeying orders?" Most of the Pirates immediately lowered their weapons, but one of them, standing near the back corner of the left catwalk yelled back at the Pirate in their own language, which Samus' Power Suit translated as, "But sir, it's the Hunter! We should-" The shorter Pirate snarled and cut him off. His voice was harsh and sounded like something scraping together, but he was no longer yelling and Samus couldn't make out what he was saying. As he spoke, the small Pirate raised his arm at the Pirate who talked back at him and balled his claws into a fist, and for a second it looked like his arm grew larger, like he was flexing his muscles.

Samus was once again surprised as the soldier the dwarf Pirate was snarling at began quivering, a sure sign of fear. In Pirate culture, anyone who showed fear was seen as weak, and was usually executed immediately. When the Pirate who seemed to be in charge finished, he turned back to the glass window of the observation deck and said loudly and clearly, "All personnel are to stand down." He then turned to the red-armored Pirate on his right and said, "Captain Gedeon, lower the hangar staircase." The Pirate in red that the short Pirate called Captain Gedeon stepped forward and began pushing buttons on the computer console in front of them. Suddenly, the purple ends on the left catwalk and the piece of metal in the hanger's left side began glowing brighter as large panels of purple metal came out of them, then each panel turned diagonally as they came out, one end pointed down at the floor and the other up at the wall or ceiling. Once in place the purple panels formed two sheets of metal, with the ones from the piece of metal in the side of the hanger forming a ramp from that piece to the hanger floor, and the ones from the catwalk making a ramp from it to the metal in the wall. Then, the middle parts of each panel turned horizontally, forming steps and turning the ramps of metal into a staircase reaching from the floor to the left catwalk. The Pirates on the catwalk faced forward and stepped back against the wall as the small Pirate said, "Samus Aran, I would like to invite you to join me up here."

Curious about this strange Pirate, and seeing no other choice, Samus cautiously walked over to the stairs and up onto the catwalk. As she passed the Pirates lined against the back of the catwalk she turned slightly and kept her hand on her arm cannon, careful not to show any of the Pirates her back. Many of them glared at her as she passed, and the one that talked back to the other Pirate gave her his best death glare, but he didn't have his weapon ready and still seemed shaken up by his superior. '_He must be a very powerful Space Pirate to have this effect on the soldiers._' She thought as she turned the corner of the catwalk and towards the observation deck side door.

As Samus entered the observation deck, she stopped suddenly once she went through the door, staring at the pair of Space Pirates. On Samus' left, just to the smaller Pirate's right and a slightly behind him, was the Pirate in red armor, standing firmly at attention. His body was encased in scarlet armor, with the joints covered by more flexible pieces of black metal. Two fin-like strips of metal ran from the sides of his neck to the tops of his shoulders, and a sea green piece of metal went from the top of his head to down in between his eyes, which burned bright yellow. The skin on his face was deep blue, and two mandibles stuck out of his lower jaw. On the back of his left hand was a gold colored retractable energy scythe, and on his right arm, running from his elbow to his hand was a galvanic accelerator cannon, standard issue Pirate weapons. The cannon was a cold grey color, with gold markings on it and a streak of red on each side, running from the forward points of the cannon to the back end where the cannon touched the elbow. On the left side of the Pirate's chest was a silver insignia, which looked like a leaf with a stem at the bottom and seven points, facing the bottom left and right, straight left and right, upper left and right, and straight up.

The other Pirate that she had thought was short was actually almost completely stooped over, his back hunched at a sharp angle, and his legs looked twisted, his left leg bent out to the side of his body and the right one leaned a little to his right and out in front of him, his foot twisted to the right, causing him to look terribly deformed. The Pirates' face, left uncovered by his suit, was vaguely fish-shaped, with several insect qualities. As the head extended from the neck, it separated, a large ridge coming up from the middle part of the head while the sides dipped down, turned, and connected, forming the lower jaw. The sides of the ridge followed the same shape, forming the upper jaw. The ridge curved inwards from the sides, making the center of the ridge stand even higher. The Pirates' jaws were orange, the sides of the ridge that started the upper jaw was a faint yellow, the central ridge was grey, and the top of his head and neck were a faded red. His head was wrinkled, and his upper lip looked thin and the skin on it seemed cracked, making it look like his skin was stretched, barely able to cover his head, but his mouth shined with rows of long, white, needle-like teeth, which looked both sharp and well cared-for. Two transparent tubes ran from somewhere on his upper back and up the Pirate's neck to his face, where it curled around the sides of his mouth and inside, where they rested between the teeth on his lower jaw. These tubes were filled with what seemed to be a dark green gas. His strangest aspect, though, were his hands. Space Pirate hands were similar in size and shape to Human hands, but they only had a thumb, a pointer finger, and next to their pointer finger was a large, thick hook-like finger. This Pirates' hands, however, were also extremely large, over twice the size of Samus' own hands, making them seem grossly out of proportion to the rest of his body.

Samus also looked at the Pirate's power armor. It covered all of his body except his head and the top of his neck in metal. The arms, legs, and parts of the chest and waist were covered in a flexible purple metal mesh, while most of his chest and waist, as well as his hands and feet were in a hard bluish-green shell of metal. The armor didn't seem to have a visible helmet.

"Samus Aran," the strange Pirate said in a firm, confident voice that sounded faintly raspy, "welcome to Vortex Outpost. I am Doctor Conleth, the head of this facility, and this, "he said, gesturing to the Pirate in red on his right, "is my head of security and bodyguard, Captain Gedeon."

Samus was already suspicious. '_Why did he stop those soldiers and call me here? Does he think this one Pirate will be able to protect him? And just what does he have planned?_' Samus decided to find out just what he wanted from her. "Why did you call off your soldiers?"

"Why wouldn't I?" Dr. Conleth said in an irritated tone. "Fighting with you is pointless, and I'm not just saying that because you could kill them easily. The way I see it, you are not our enemy." He paused then said with conviction, "The Galactic Federation is."

Now Samus was intrigued. "I'm not your enemy?" she said in a disbelieving voice. "Even after the Assault on Zebes?"

Conleth growled at this. "True, you have done us severe damage in the past, destroying our forces, our bases, and our research. But you did us some favors during the Assault on Zebes, and from what I hear the Galactic Federation has decided you're an enemy of theirs as well."

Samus wondered at this. What could she have done on Zebes that helped them? And what was that about the Federation? "What do you know about the Federation, and what do you mean, I did you a favor?"

Dr. Conleth gave out a hissing chuckle, and his mouth widened into a smirk, showing his pointed teeth. He said in an amused voice, "When you destroyed our forces at Zebes, you also destroyed what remained of High Command. You see, when Mother Brain defected from the Chozo and took over our organization, she designated the Chozo Grey Voice as troop leader, Ridley as general and war strategist, and herself as planner and supreme leader." Samus eyes narrowed and she clenched her fist at hearing Ridley's name, but Conleth continued on. "Grey Voice betrayed Mother Brain and attempted to destroy her, though he failed and that savage Ridley killed him. Afterwards, you killed both Ridley and Mother Brain, forcing us to create a new High Command. While some Pirates complain about the setbacks, I am not completely unhappy with the change in leadership." Dr. Conleth took in a deep breath, sucking the dark green gases flowing through the tubes into his mouth faster. "As for the Galactic Federation, our scanning equipment picked up your little skirmish with their forces. Besides, you didn't really think they'd let you keep that Power Armor, did you?"

Samus was beginning to get frustrated. Every answer created another question! Still, she needed to know what the Galactic Federation was up to. She answered cautiously, "And why wouldn't they allow my armor?"

"Why wouldn't they?" The Pirate's tone was mocking her. "Why wouldn't they allow you to keep a powerful piece of Chozo technology? Technology that was used to help win a significant amount of otherwise hopeless battles, including the Assault on Zebes, which even the Galactic Federation's immense naval might couldn't win?" Dr. Conleth looked directly at her and said seriously, "The answer is simple. They believe that, with your Chozo armorsuit, you are the equivalent of a super soldier. Federation scientists will no doubt already have tried replicating your suit's advanced abilities. However, I have already studied the Chozo's bio-metal technology, as I am the Space Pirate Confederacy's peerless bioresearch scientist, and I can say with certainty that creating a working copy of the Chozo Power Armor is practically impossible." Dr. Conleth spoke with clear confidence and pride. "Since they couldn't reproduce and manufacture Chozo Power Armor for their own marines, they decided to simply use you to attack us for as long as they could. Things changed, however, when you finished the Assault on Zebes. Our forces scattered, the bases destroyed, our research and experiments lost, and our entire leadership killed, the Galactic Federation doubtlessly no longer considers Space Pirate forces an adequate threat. Since they no longer need you to keep us in check, they can move on to the next best thing for their super soldier research; taking your suit and studying it in their own laboratories, and field testing it and the resulting prototypes with select marines."

Samus stared at him in horror. It all made sense. With the Space Pirates out of the way, they didn't need her, and could try and take her technology for their own purposes. Samus thought about the captain of the G.F.S. Enyalius remark about her loyalty to the Federation. '_Wait'_ she thought. '_This is just a conspiracy theory to turn me against the Federation._' Samus' tone was harsh. "You're lying." She said, pointing her arm cannon at the Pirate. "The Federation isn't that corrupt."

Samus saw movement to the side and pointed her cannon at the other Pirate, Captain Gedeon, who was now aiming his own weapon at her. He stayed so still, she had almost forgotten he was there!

Dr. Conleth put his giant hand up. "Violence will not be necessary." He said to Gedeon, and then turned back to Samus. "And you are wrong if you believe that the Galactic Federation is not corrupt, Samus Aran. Many events in the past follow specific patterns, and by watching history, we can learn when these patterns appear, what they affect, and how they work. For example, one pattern that can be seen in history is the downfall of civilizations. After so many years of existence, many civilizations have what is called a 'golden age', a time of peace and prosperity where everything is easy and abundant." The doctor's voice became grave. "Eventually, however, this golden age must end, and few, if any, of these civilizations get to experience another golden age. The end of these peaceful times is often marked by some terrible event, such as a fresh chain of disasters or a series of battles signaling the beginning of a war, causing things to become more expensive and less abundant. Fearing the end of their prosperity, people begin to hoard the commodities around them, whether that is money, food, or power. Governments, too, try to resist the end of their wealth, and begin trying to increase their own strength and power to survive the coming ages. Eventually they begin to ignore and overstep their own laws, little things at first, which grow bigger with the years. More extreme forms of corruption, such as illegal experimentation, soon follow."

Dr. Conleth paused before continuing his speech. "These governments and those pulling the strings of course try to keep the growing corruption out of the public eye, but eventually deception of so large a scale must be revealed. After that, things begin to worsen, until the people of that civilization decide that they have had enough and turn against the corrupted government, which in turn sends its' soldiers against the rebelling people in a bloody civil war. This event usually ends in one of three possible outcomes."

"The first outcome is for the ruling government and its' soldiers to defeat the rebel forces, in which it would be reformed with additional laws to protect against the event happening again, and the old government slowly rebuilt."

"The second outcome, of course, is for the rebel forces to topple the government, and then the leaders of the rebellion create a new ruling body of government in the people's interests with themselves as its' leadership."

"The third, and by far the worse outcome, is for both sides to decimate the other, leaving what few survivors remain to pick up, and either work together or apart to create new civilizations."

Samus was silent. '_His theory is well-made, but even if that's true, what does it have to do with the Galactic Federation?_'

Dr. Conleth took another deep breath before continuing. "Now, all you need to do is take the pattern, and apply it to our current situation; the one with the Galactic Federation. You see, the Federation has already had what it considered a 'golden age', which ended with the beginning of the more serious Space Pirate raids. Most notably, the K2-L raid."

Samus glared fiercely at Conleth when he mentioned K2-L. She was born on that colony, and had only been three years old when the raid happened. Her father sacrificed himself to deprive the Pirates of the supplies they had come to steal, and her mother died protecting her from Ridley. She was – and is – the colony's only survivor.

Conleth paused a moment, then continued. "The Galactic Federation's golden age ended about seventeen solar years ago. Because of our forces pressuring them, the Federation has had little else to do but focus on finding ways to fight us, which they could barely do without asking for the help of Bounty Hunters. Now that we are not currently considered a threat to them, the officials of the Galactic Federation will be able to focus on other things, and considering their poor defenses during their war with our Confederacy, their main concern will probably be to strengthen and arm themselves for a new enemy or for the eventual return of our forces. The most obvious way, and possibly best way to do this, is to secure and study your Power Armor." Conleth exhaled loudly. "And then there's the whole 'gathering corruption' thing to deal with, so obviously the step after that is illegal experimentation – if they're not already doing that with the data they already have. Once their super soldier program and whatever else illegal things they've done becomes common knowledge, the public will rise up, and the Galactic Federation will have a civil war on its' hands, and considering that the Federation will have an army of marines and a smaller army of super soldiers and the rebels will be everyone else in the Federation, well I'm sure you can figure it out."

The doctor prepared himself for the next part. "There is, however, an alternative."

Samus studied him carefully. She didn't like where this was going, but if this Pirate was right, she would need to do something about the Federation – for herself and for the Federation's innocent civilians. "What alternative is that?"

Conleth's eyes gleamed as he spoke. "If one civilization defeats another, and its' leaders decide to annex the other civilization, then the conquered are merged with the victor, and the two governments and cultures become one. During the ages ahead, the single new civilization adapts to the changes of adding one to the other, the culture blending and the government being cleaned, refined, and reformed. This sweeps away much corruption and dissatisfaction for many years, allowing the new civilization to live longer, eventually experiencing a new golden age before it begins to decline again. This, too, has been revealed to me by studying the past. Take, for example, a rather old civilization, which existed on the old Human homeworld, Earth." Samus' eyes widened at the mention of the planet. While she had been born on K2-L, she knew that her parents had come from Earth to help build the colony. "This civilization, which was called Rome, conquered many other countries, adding them to it, allowing the civilization of Rome to be reborn twice, and letting it exist for over 2,000 of the planet's years."

Samus had heard enough to guess what the doctor was getting at. "So, you're saying that if your Confederacy defeats the Galactic Federation, you'll both survive longer."

"Essentially, yes. With their overconfidence of our defeat, we could defeat them." Dr. Conleth paused. "With your help, that is."

Samus was taken aback by this comment. '_Is he asking me to join the Space Pirates?_' She didn't know if she should be surprised or angry. She decided on angry. "You want me to help you defeat the Federation? After all you've done to me and the innocent people of the Galactic Federation!"

"Ridley, not I." Conleth answered simply.

"What?"

"Ridley, the Space Pirate leader at the time, was the one who ordered the attack on K2-L and killed the colonists. He was also responsible for all other Space Pirate raids before we finally took Zebes."

Samus knew he was right. But the Pirates had still played a large role in things, and they did many terrible things against the people of the Galactic Federation. "But it was the Space Pirates who wiped out the Chozo colony on Zebes, and your scientists who tried using the metroids as bioweapons!"

Both of the Pirates looked irritated at the mention of the metroids.

"That," Dr. Conleth began in a cold voice, "was Mother Brain's doing. After repeated failed attempts of taking Zebes, she decided we could be useful to her, and she lowered the shields around Zebes and allowed us to attack. After the battle, she declared herself the planner and head of the Pirates, the Chozo Grey Voice as troop leader, and Ridley as the general and military strategist." Then he said with interest, "A position that I hear was first offered to you."

Samus stared at him hard. "And I rejected it immediately. I could never work with her after she helped you Pirates, and for what she did while I was still living on Zebes."

Conleth nodded. "I realize that. And I ask you to reconsider. Before you decline, hear me out." He said, cutting her off. "Both Ridley and Mother Brain, thanks to you, are dead. And as I told you earlier, a new High Command has been made to replace them, and our Confederacy still plans on defeating the Federation. However, are forces are still rather crushed, and in disarray. Additionally, it will take time before the new High Command will be able to work efficiently. At the moment, we are at a significant disadvantage to the Galactic Federation, especially now that they're actively trying to replicate your Power Armor. In order to quickly come back from the situation, we need a great mind to lead us into battle against the Federation in order to harm them and return their focus to us. The Galactic Federation is now hunting you, we need a leader, and your reasons for fighting us are rather dead now, so I ask you to reconsider the offer and become our new leader." Dr. Conleth cleared his throat. "Of course, I'm not asking you to decide on it now. I see that your ship has sustained quite a bit of damage from your earlier… encounter. Powering the life support functions for a full rest cycle while attempting to repair the ship's damaged parts will slow the process, so, if you would like, we have unused rooms for high-ranking personnel."

Samus thought on this. There was something suspicious about the whole thing. Still, this would help her find out just what was going on with both the Space Pirates and the Galactic Federation. And it would take some time for the ship to auto-repair the engines…

"Fine, I'll think on it." She said in a controlled voice. "In the meantime, about that room."

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**Author's Note – A little note for the character descriptions here, Captain Gedeon is based off of the Pirates of the first Metroid Prime, while Dr. Conleth is supposed to look like a malformed Pirate from Metroid Prime 3: Corruption.**

**Also, 5 points to anyone who can guess what the insignia on Captain Gedeon's armor means without looking it up. I'll post the answer next chapter.**


	4. Shipping Error

**Author's Note – Sorry if it gets a little technical this chapter, I tried to explain things without using a lot of science terms, but I'm not sure if I succeeded.**

**Also, Captain Gedeon's insignia is mentioned in the chapter, for those who want to know what it means.**

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Shipping Error

"Well then," the slightly grating voice of Dr. Conleth said to Samus, "let's get you a room and continue our conversation sometime next day cycle. Captain Gedeon, if you would."

The Pirate in red, Captain Gedeon, turned and shot the back door of the observation deck, causing it to open and reveal a hallway leading deeper into the Vortex Outpost. Dr. Conleth crept to the door on his twisted legs with Captain Gedeon following on his right side as Conleth motioned for Samus to follow.

As Samus followed the two Pirates through the station, she studied them. Other than his red armor, Captain Gedeon looked and moved like a normal Space Pirate. Conleth, on the other hand, seemed malformed, and he walked by raising his left leg slightly, then moving it forward, ahead and to the left of his right foot. Once his left foot was down, Conleth slightly raised his right foot and quickly slid it forward. Despite how awkward and stilted the bizarre motion seemed, Dr. Conleth moved at a startling pace, and Samus found that she nearly had to power walk just to keep up.

"Ah, here we are." Dr. Conleth said as they stopped in front of a door. "This will be your room for your stay here."

Samus looked at the door. Rather than a circular door with an energy shield as she had come to expect, there was a solid, rectangular structure of grey metal and interlocking bars, and to the right of the door on the wall was a circular plate of similarly grey metal with a red shape that looked like a Space Pirates claw. Dr. Conleth moved forward and removed the plate and began tinkering with the circuits behind it.

"I see you've noticed the new security measures." Conleth said in a dark voice. Samus had heard it earlier, when he chewed out the Pirate that had argued with him back in the hanger. She realized that it sounded grim and angry, like bone being scraped against rock. "That is the Space Pirate Science Team's little joke for me – or rather, on me. It is a new prototype security system, designed to keep out Galactic Federation marines and only allow properly registered Space Pirates in. The design is, of course, faulty, and by faulty I mean the Science Team wrote about half the code, modified the blueprints of the Vortex Outpost to show where hand-scanners should be placed, then told us to 'test it' for them. The way its' SUPPOSED to work is that only the right Pirates can open the doors or access information displays connected to hand-scanners, and if anyone who isn't in the data records of accepted Pirates tries to operate them, they will activate the alarms. However, because they aren't complete, the scanners tend to malfunction."

By now, Dr. Conleth had finished with the hand-scanners circuits and returned the plate to walk back to where Samus and Captain Gedeon were standing. He looked like he was going to be sick, and Gedeon didn't seem much happier. "The first cycle was a nightmare!" Conleth continued complaining. "Every time someone tried to open one of these doors, the alarm would go off, and half the time the doors STILL wouldn't open! And of course the Science Team made sure to place them all in the most inconvenient places! On top of all that – and this is the real insult – I'M the only one in the whole outpost who knows enough about operating systems to finish the programming, and I can't even use the scanners!" Dr. Conleth sucked in a deep breath from the tubes flowing green gas into his mouth. When he began speaking again, his voice was tight with emotion. "That's something they did on purpose, I'm sure. In order to use the hand-scanners, you have to put your whole hand onto it, but my hands are too big for the scanners, so Gedeon has to open the doors for me."

Samus wasn't sure what to say about this. '_It sounds like there's some kind of rivalry between the Science Team and this doctor. Didn't he say he was the Pirates' top bio-researcher?_'

Dr. Conleth gave out a noise like a hissing grunt. "In any case, I've set the scanner to register you into the databanks at the same access level as a regular Pirate Trooper. All you have to do is place your hand on the scanner for a few seconds."

Samus wasn't sure if he was trustworthy, but it looked like she'd have to do this to move around the station freely, so she stepped forward and placed her left hand on the hand-scanner. As lights danced across the scanner, Samus' palm began to feel strange. When the lights stopped and the scanner returned to normal the door opened. Samus stared at her palm, but everything seemed normal…

Samus could hear Conleth clear his throat behind her. "Now then, I have some matters other matters to deal with now, but if you need anything there is an intercom on the far wall. By the next day cycle everyone should know you're here, so you may travel the non-restricted sections of the outpost, but please refrain from pointing at and/or shooting anyone with your arm cannon. Pleasant dreams." He said as he and Gedeon began walking down the hall. As they were walking away, Samus switched to scan visor and locked onto Dr. Conleth.

What the scan visor showed was even more startling and confusing than what Samus already knew of the Pirate doctor.

The scan revealed that there was nothing wrong with the bones or musculature of his legs or chest, and in fact they seemed quite healthy. An estimate of the stress on his joints seemed to indicate that he was in his hunched, twisted position voluntarily. On top of that, all of his skin, not just the skin on his face, was wrinkled and sagging, showing signs of advanced aging. However, the density of his bones was only slightly lower than the average Pirate's, and his muscle mass was actually greater than one, which seemed to indicate that Dr. Conleth was an extremely old Space Pirate in excellent physical shape, despite the fact that his estimated extreme age, if accurate, would mean that Conleth should be too old and physically infirm to be able to exercise regularly.

Even stranger was the scan of his suit. It seemed to contain a thermal control unit, maintaining a certain temperature in the suit at all times, and a complex system of layered pieces of metal rubbed and pushed against key areas of the ribs, arms, legs, and other body parts, constantly working them into better shape without requiring him to focus on the exercise. Various small vents sucked air into a chamber inside the suit, where it was carefully filtered to change the elemental content of the air, then pumped into the tubes that ran from Conleth's back into his mouth. The mixture had the same elements as air, which was mainly oxygen, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen, but the amounts of the elements were different, and the nitrogen content was greatly increased, turning the gas dark green.

In the arms and legs of the suit was an alternating system of what looked like springs running throughout the limbs. They had an hourglass shape, the type that has two bars on the top and bottom that are connected by two more bars running diagonally to the opposite end of the other bar, crisscrossing in the middle. If pressure were applied to the spring, the top and bottom bars would stay level while the connecting bars would fold, bringing the other two bars closer until the pressure was removed. The bottom bars of the springs were against Conleth's arms and legs, while the tops were pushed against the suit. The suit parts covering the limbs were made of a purple mesh of metal, which was designed like the scales of a fish, made of individual, connecting pieces of metal that overlapped in many places. It looked like the mesh was designed to help push against and add pressure to the springs when the limbs' muscles were tightened or flexed, but the purpose of the springs was still unclear.

There were many more systems in the suit to help with living functions, but there didn't seem to be any kind of weapon, shielding, or any type combat-related systems at all. The suit was more like a mobile life-support machine than Power Armor, which was strange for a Pirate, and even stranger since Dr. Conleth was not only in great shape, but didn't seem to have a single health problem despite his unusually old age.

Stunned, confused, and extremely tired, Samus decided it was better to sleep now and think about these many bewildering things and events later.

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Dr. Conleth couldn't stop rubbing his metal-encased hands and claws together as he walked down the halls with Captain Gedeon, grinning like a sadistic madman.

Captain Gedeon glanced at his superior. "If you don't mind me asking, sir, what would be the reason for your good mood?"

"Oh, Gedeon," Dr. Conleth started in a bemused tone, "you don't need to address me so formally, no one is around."

Gedeon grunted. "Very well, but honestly, I haven't seen such a disturbing smile on your face in a long time. It isn't because of _the Hunter_, is it?" He asked disbelievingly. "You don't really believe that she will join us, do you?"

"Hah! I honestly doubt that she would, even with Ridley and Mother Brain… indisposed." Conleth said plainly. "However, I will tell you that in the few seconds that Samus Aran placed her hand on the scanner, she guaranteed my greatest success, and an ironic vengeance."

"Oh?" Captain Gedeon questioned. "And I suppose you'll keep these things to yourself as usual, Conleth?"

"All in due time," Dr. Conleth stated, then in a mocking tone said, "and how dare you speak to a commanding officer so informally!"

If he weren't so professional, Captain Gedeon would have rolled his eyes at his superior's immaturity. "Commanding is right."

"Cold." Conleth said, then sighed. "Once Samus decides to go against us, we'll have a bloodbath on our hands. We have to at least keep her distracted from siding against us, and right now, manipulating the Galactic Federation is our best bet." Dr. Conleth looked up at the hallway's lights as they kept walking. "It seems that, whether in the ships, on the planets, or in the labs, all Pirates die young."

Captain Gedeon, still keeping a straight face, asked, "Then what do you call yourself?"

"Shut up."

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Samus woke to a peculiar sound in her room. As she jumped up, ready for a fight, she realized that the sound was coming from the room's built in clock, which was currently beeping to alert her that the day cycle had started. Samus slowly got off the hard, military-style bed and stretched. She was extremely stiff, although that wasn't entirely the bed's fault. Samus had decided that it was safer to sleep in her Power Armor rather than her Zero Suit, which she was starting to regret, considering how sore her back felt.

After Samus finished stretching, she began walking down to the hangar. She passed a few Pirates going through the halls, but they either ignored her or glared at her and continued on. Once, when she passed a pair of Pirates talking by the side of the hall, she heard them say something about the Federation causing trouble. She wanted to find out more, but doubted that they would tell her anything and kept walking towards the hangar. When she got there, Samus scanned her ship for a damage report. According to the scans, the ship's engines were 83% repaired, and would be ready by the next day cycle.

"AAARRRRRGGGGHHH!"

Samus almost started to think things were going well when she heard the monstrous roar. She spun around and ran out into the hallway to see Space Pirates scurrying towards the other hangars. Samus headed for where she heard the roar come from, the Vortex Outpost Communications Room. When she arrived, the door was open and she went in.

The room was filled with rows of computer consoles on either side of the room. On the far wall was a large screen, and in front of it was a circular block with lights streaming across the top of it, a hologram projector. In the left wall was a door with a hand-scanner, and at the right was an elevator, which was currently up, in the room above them. There were Pirate personnel at every computer, and standing towards the front of the room, was Captain Gedeon talking to one of the Pirates.

As Samus approached them, she noticed that the computer console next to the Pirate that Gedeon was talking with was smashed, the metal collapsed in on itself. Samus didn't have time to switch to scan visor, so she used the combat visor's limited scanning ability to check the console. It looked like someone had punched the top of the computer downwards, with tremendous speed and force, shattering the top and pushing it inwards.

Once she was within earshot of Gedeon, she heard him snarl at the communications Pirate, "I don't care about your excuses, and neither does the doctor! Just follow your orders, lieutenant commander, and alert High Command, or I'll demote you down to 'lab assistant'!" The Pirate working the computer seemed to take the threat very seriously, because he began pushing buttons on his computer and adjusting the communications headset he was wearing. As Samus approached them, Captain Gedeon turned to face her.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"Sometime last night cycle a Galactic Federation Anhur-Class patrol ship found and shot down one of our transport ships." Captain Gedeon began in a tightly controlled voice. "That freighter was en route to bring a special piece of research to Dr. Conleth at the 'request' of High Command." The way he said request made it clear that it was an order. "The cargo ship is intact, but it was forced to land on an as of yet unnamed planet, with the Anhur-Class close behind it, no doubt searching for survivors and the cargo. Dr. Conleth has ordered us to mobilize to the planet to find and retrieve the cargo, and if possible, the crew, before the Galactic Federation can secure it or send reinforcements." He then straightened himself and walked past her, towards the door. "I am also going on the mission, so I must prepare at once." Gedeon said as he walked out.

Samus thought about the situation. The Pirates were bringing a mysterious shipment to the outpost for the equally strange doctor to study. This cargo seemed extremely important to their operations, which meant she had a chance to find out what they were up to. And then there was the Federation… Samus had made up her mind. She would play along, at least until she had her answers.

Samus sprinted out of the Communications Room and through the hall Gedeon went down. When she caught up with him, she followed alongside and said, "I'm going with you."

Captain Gedeon kept walking, but whipped his neck around to look at her. "You're accepting Conleth's offer?"

"For now, anyway." Samus said. "By the way, should you be speaking so informally about your superior officer?"

Gedeon couldn't stop himself from rolling his eyes as he looked away. "We are… old friends."

"I see." Samus then thought of something the Captain had said in the Comms Room. "Speaking of rank, I heard you yelling at that comms personnel, and you called him a lieutenant commander. I realize that his rank is Navy while you are Army, but isn't lieutenant commander a rank higher than captain?"

Gedeon grunted. "It is, however my actual rank is lieutenant colonel, which is a rank higher than lieutenant commander. Dr. Conleth likes calling me captain because he thinks it 'sounds better'."

"That Pirate seemed to take your threat seriously."

"As he should. Lab assistant is a job that no one wants."

"Because the pay is bad?" Samus asked.

Captain Gedeon snorted, then said, "We don't get paid. It is our duty to fight to liberate ourselves from the Galactic Federation. And lab assistant is an undesirable position because it is the equivalent of what you Humans refer to as 'guinea pigs.'

Samus was disgusted and confused. '_Pirates using their undesirables as test subjects, how typical. But what does he mean by liberating themselves from the Galactic Federation? Didn't the Space Pirates start the war between themselves and the Federation?_' Samus had always thought that they fought the Federation for power and control, but was there another reason, more to this war?

By now they had reached the hangar where three other Pirates stood in front of a fairly small Space Pirate ship, which had a narrow, flat-headed front with a wider back and a pair of bulges on each side, which seemed to be heavily-armored doors. Samus recognized it as a common small-forces Pirate drop ship, an Armored Tactical Carrier, usually just called an ATC.

"Alright, let's keep this quick and simple," Captain Gedeon said as they met the other Pirates in front of the ship. "The Galactic Federation ship that took down our transport will have already sent for reinforcements and landed on the planet to look for our ship. We can't send much of our force to attack because too many ships would make it easy for them to find our outpost here. So, while the forces we can send keep their backup occupied when they arrive, as well as keeping the Anhur-Class on the planet from flying, our team is to land as close as we can to the downed transport, make our way on foot to it, and secure the special cargo it was shipping to us, then take it to an established lift site for it and ourselves to be picked up. There is no failure on this mission: only success, or death. Now load up!"

As soon as he finished, the doors on the ATC opened and the Pirates geared up and entered the ship. Gedeon grabbed a grey harness and attached a removable backpack to it, then strapped it onto himself. Samus followed him onto the ship, and as they entered, she asked, "What is this special cargo?"

Captain Gedeon simply said, "Remains."

Samus thought about his answer. She knew that it was being shipped for Dr. Conleth to study, and the Pirate doctor was a leading scientist in bioresearch. That could only mean that they were being sent to retrieve…

'_A dead body._'

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**Author's Note – I can't really think of much to say here, other than the fact that it could be a while before the next update. I've been making most of this up some ideas I have for the fanfic and whatever else I could brainstorm and write down notes on, but I don't have many ideas for the next few chapters, so it could take some time to think of something to write about.**


	5. Krosix

**Author's Note – Here's the next chapter! Sorry about the long wait. In addition to this story and my schoolwork, I've also begun planning out several other fanfictions.**

**Seldavia – Thank you for your review. I want the fanfic to look like a real possibility in the Metroid universe, so believability is important. I was also worried that my explanations wouldn't be clear enough to understand, so thanks for telling me that. As for the dialogue, part of the reason I think it was weak is due to having a hard time giving Conleth and Gedeon the first impression I wanted. I was also getting frustrated with trying to keep Samus in character, even though she did almost nothing but ask questions to keep the story moving. I'm hoping that the dialogue will get better further into the story.**

**Also, from now on I will be keeping update information for this story and others I intend to write in my profile.**

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Krosix

As the Armored Tactical Carrier took off, Samus looked around the small confines of the drop ship. It was mostly empty, except for the supplies the Space Pirates had brought and the Pirates themselves. Other than Captain Gedeon and herself, there were three Pirates in the ship.

To Samus' right, on the other side of the tiny ship, was Gedeon, checking his equipment and going through bits of data on his headset. On her left, a little ways from her was a Pirate in brown and sand-colored armor. His armor was dense around the chest and ribs, but lighter around the shoulders and upper legs. Various types of ammo packs were strewn about his upper arms, and several sharp, bladed tools were strapped to his waist. He stood crouched over, sharpening his energy scythe. On his chest was an insignia of two silver bars connected by two smaller bars.

At the back of the ship was another Pirate in dark red and green armor. His armor was lighter than the brown Pirate's, but larger areas on his shoulders and the area where the thigh meets the knee revealed the presence of stronger energy shield generators. On his arms were numerous peculiar devices, the ends of which glowed with a green light. He was facing slightly to the side of Samus, giving her a partial view of his back. On it she could see what looked like weapons, and behind his right shoulder was what looked like a folded up rectangle of red and black metal with a handgrip on top of the front of it. This Pirate was currently checking a variety of cylindrical containers strapped to his sides. He also had an insignia of silver bars connected by smaller bars on his chest. Although Samus knew that the insignias meant that the Pirates were the same rank, she could tell from their armor that these two Pirates had very different roles.

The third Pirate, standing over by Gedeon and reading an info log, seemed different. Most people wouldn't recognize the difference, but Samus was familiar with this race, and could tell that the third Pirate was a woman. She wore white and blue colored armor, which was much lighter than all the other Pirates' armor, but also had storage pockets on it. Like Gedeon, she had picked up a grey harness and attachable backpack. On her waist was a belt filled with small metal containers. Her energy scythe was smaller, though still fairly long, had less curves, and a sharper point. There was also a square of metal bars connected by a hinge to the front area of her scythe, which could be pulled down when the scythe was engaged and used as a handgrip. On her armor, in the same place the others wore their insignias, were two golden lines, the top one making a loop in one place before continuing.

Although none of them were looking at her, Samus could sense the Pirates' hostility. She decided that she should check her equipment as well. According to her visor display, when the Galactic Federation ships attacked her ship and damaged the engines, they also did some damage to the files access and storage of her suit's weapons and upgrades. The read-out showed that she had her Power Beam, which shot yellow-orange balls of concentrated kinetic energy, her Morph Ball ability, the Power Suit, her combat visor and her scan visor. '_Back to the basics._' she thought.

Captain Gedeon's voice quickly called her back to the ship. "Everyone, link your communications systems to this channel." Samus looked towards him and saw that he was holding out some sort of data-sphere towards them. Scanning it, Samus' visor soon displayed the message:

Linking to communication channel frequency…

Link complete. Communication channel secure.

Gedeon spoke again. "Is everyone connected?"

The Pirate woman next to Gedeon answered first, then they went around the ship until they reached Samus.

"Connected."

"Positive."

"Affirmative."

Samus checked her visor once more and said, "Connection complete."

"Excellent!" another, grating voice suddenly said over Samus' comm. system. "I have also established a connection via the outpost's computer network, and I will be able to speak with you and monitor the situation through your Heads Up Displays as you attempt your mission on the planet of Krosix."

Samus quickly recognized the doctor's voice, but something he said didn't sound right. Turning to Gedeon, she said, "I thought you said the planet didn't have a name?"

Dr. Conleth spoke first. "WE didn't give it a name. But apparently, the Galactic Federation has." Samus heard him suck down another gulp of nitrogen-air. "I was looking for information as to why the Federation had a patrol ship outside the borders of their space in some data files we captured from them when I discovered the name."

Samus suddenly broke in. "You stole files from the Federation?"

"Hmph." Conleth started speaking in strict tones. "This is war, missy. We do what we can to win."

Samus clenched her fist. '_Missy!_' She couldn't believe he had called her that. She burned with anger at his words. It felt like a twisted reminder of her past…

Dr. Conleth cleared his throat over the comms. "Anyway, as I was saying, I found the planet's name, but unfortunately the files I've searched don't mention why the Galactic Federation is so interested in this planet. As for the planet itself, it seems to be a run-of-the-mill, average, nothing special planet, uninhabited by sentient life…as far as we know. It has hills, mountains, forests, oceans, the usual. In any case, I leave the rest to you, Lieutenant Colonel."

Gedeon straightened himself, and began speaking in a strict, military voice. "Since you are joining us for this mission, Hunter, it is important that you know my team. I am team leader, Lieutenant Colonel Gedeon, trained to specialize in no particular field and excel in all of them. I am a part of the Army branch of the Space Pirate Confederacy's military, which is responsible for operations on the surface of planets, both temporary and permanent."

Samus wondered about this. '_By 'permanent,' he probably means managing Space Pirate bases on planets._'

Lieutenant Colonel Gedeon continued, gesturing to the Pirate in the brown and sandy armor. "This is Ludovic, the team's close combat and weapons expert, wielding a variety of close and long range weapons to deal with enemies and wildlife. He is a captain in the Army."

Ludovic, who had just finished sharpening his energy scythe, looked up at Samus while running a finger down the scythe's edge and said cruelly, "If it bleeds, I can kill it."

Samus had a bad feeling about him. '_So he does most of the fighting. I'll need to keep an eye on him._'

Next, Gedeon looked at the Pirate in the dark red and green armor. "Quidel is our expert in the purely technical and pyrotechnical. As a captain of the Marines, he deals with computers and explosives to bring down shipboard security measures in the virtual world and the physical world."

Quidel reached behind his right shoulder and grabbed the handle of the rectangular piece of metal behind his shoulder and pulled it upwards. Samus could see that the black and red rectangle was in three connected pieces which unfolded and fit together perfectly as the Pirate pulled the front piece up until it looked like a single, solid piece of metal pointing straight up. Then he said aggressively, like he was boasting, "I specialize in putting holes in obstacles, firewalls, and enemies!"

Samus quickly ran down his list of skills in her mind and thought about what he could do. '_Computer skills probably won't be very useful on an uninhabited world, but they might be a risk to me if he hacks into my Power Armor, and explosives are dangerous in almost any situation._'

Finally, Gedeon turned to the Pirate in white and blue armor. "And this is Gallyn, our field medic. She is a bio-researcher and lieutenant in the Navy, which is the equivalent of captain in the Army and Marines, working directly under Dr. Conleth."

The Pirate woman, Gallyn, stared hard at Samus as she deployed her energy scalpel, grabbed hold of the handgrip, and began making practice slices in the air as she said in a sterile voice that held clear, harsh emotion, "I am well versed in biomedical procedures, vital organ systems and functions, and experimental surgery."

Samus found the harsh gaze and words of the last Pirate somewhat unnerving. '_So she takes care of those injured in the field. But how well would she do in battle?_'

Gedeon addressed them again. "Now, the mission at hand. The transport ship containing the cargo we are to retrieve has crash-landed on a cliff overlooking one of the planet's canyons. Due to the Anhur-Class ship and full company of GF marines already searching the area, we can't land at the canyon. Instead, the ATC will fly us to a nearby forest, and drop the team in a clearing we discovered through the Vortex Outpost's long-range scanners. Once there, our mission will be to travel through the forest to the base of the canyon, find a way up the cliff wall, and secure the cargo, our main objective. With the crash site secure, we will only need to hold the area and protect the cargo until the ATC can retrieve us. Any questions?"

Everyone was silent.

"Good. Finish your preparations and standby for drop-off when we arrive."

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As Samus stood in the ATC, waiting to arrive at the planet, she thought about all that had happened recently. '_Is this the right thing? These are the people who destroyed both of my homes and families! Even though the real monsters behind it are dead…_' her thoughts turned to their new leader.'_How much of what Dr. Conleth said is true? Is the Galactic Federation really corrupt? And what did Captain Gedeon mean when he said that the Space Pirates had to liberate themselves from the Federation?_'

Samus looked at the Pirates in the ship. '_Everything feels twisted and backwards. Are the Space Pirates good, and the Federation is the evil one?_'

She started thinking about when she was younger, working for the Galactic Federation to hunt down the Space Pirates. '_I was foolish. It is much more complicated than simple black and white, good and evil._' Samus thought about the Pirate doctor. '_But what about him? He definitely knows something about what's going on with the Federation, but I get the feeling that he hasn't told me everything. What is he really planning?_'

Suddenly, the ATC began to shake and rock back and forth.

"We have now begun are descent into the planet's atmosphere." Gedeon's voice called Samus back from her thoughts. "Make sure you are fully prepared and standby for drop-off."

Samus checked her equipment once again. While looking at her HUD, she noticed that her radar was showing the four nearby Pirates as enemies. '_I'll have to keep track of that._'

Soon the ATC began to slow, and eventually stop, as the doors of the small craft opened, revealing the team's first look at the planet Krosix. The Pirates and Samus quickly filed out of the ship and looked around while the ATC returned to the atmosphere.

Samus quickly examined the clearing. Much of the ground was clear of plant life, probably due to a section of poor soil. She saw some moderate-size beetle-like creatures skitter off into the forest as the Pirates exited the ship. Surrounding the clearing were a variety of large trees. Samus examined the plant life closely. The trees seemed like average floral life, although slightly larger than most trees.

One section of the trees had a large, snake-like vine winding from tree to tree. This vine was as thick as a normal tree's trunk, and had giant thorns sprouting from its sides. One side of the thorn grew straight outward, while the other side curved slightly as it grew until it met the end of the other side, forming a sharp point. These thorns were big and sharp, and grew in many places along the length of the vine, pointing outwards in every direction. The trees had dark brown bark with bright green leaves, while the vine was a deep, dark green with slightly lighter-colored thorns.

Lieutenant Colonel Gedeon was the first to speak. "Alright Ludovic, which way?"

The sandy-armored Pirate checked his sensors. "Map indicates the transport is that way." he said, then turned and pointed at one end of the clearing.

At the end, directly where Ludovic was pointing was an immense wall of dark brown, almost black stone that reached up to the treetops.

Samus stared at the rock wall. It was as tall as the trees and about as wide as the length of her gunship. High up on the wall, near the left side was a thick, thorn-covered vine, growing straight through the rock. Looking at the trees, it seemed to be the same vine Samus noticed earlier. Small cracks spread out from where the vine pierced the rock, but the wall still looked strong. Samus switched to her scan visor and locked onto the wall.

Scanning…

Scan Complete

Stone is extremely dense. Strength and wall integrity on par with cordite.

Samus turned to Gedeon. "The rock would take a Super Missile to breach. We'll have to find another way."

Gedeon turned to speak, but before he could Quidel shouted, "Oh, no we won't! Stand back unless ya want some parts blown off!" Quidel reached over his shoulder and grabbed the rectangle of metal on his shoulder and extended it all the way up, like he did on the ATC. Next, he pulled it forward until it pointed straight in front of him, the back of the rectangle resting on his shoulder, the front held up by his right hand, and the middle supported by his left. Samus heard a low hum begin to sound from the rectangle as her suit started picking up energy readings.

The other Pirates quickly backed up, stopping only when they were a few dozen feet behind Quidel. Samus decided it would be wise to do the same and followed.

As the seemingly pyromaniacal Pirate continued aiming at the rock wall, Samus' visor showed increasingly powerful energy readings as the low hum slowly became a louder, higher-pitched whistle.

"**BOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM!**"

A flash of bright orange light overtook Samus' vision for a second as an ear-shattering sound shook the earth. Samus lowered her head to shield herself from the light and sound. While staring at the ground she saw some pieces of dark rock skitter across the ground and pass her. Once the spots in her eyes disappeared and her hearing returned Samus looked up, and the stone wall below where the vine broke through was gone.

Quidel looked back at Samus with a triumphant smirk. "My Shrieker Cannon takes a while to charge up, but packs the punch of a Super Missile and travels much faster."

'_Explosives, hacking, and artillery,_' Samus thought. '_A dangerous combination._'

Samus returned her focus to where the wall had been. The new opening revealed a stone passage and…

"A Chozo door?" Samus wondered. "Why would it be on this planet?"

For the first time since landing, Dr. Conleth spoke. "The Chozo, before they began settling down, were a race of traveling warrior-philosophers. There are few planets they did not visit, and so their doors are common, even on uncivilized planets."

Before Samus could respond Gedeon spoke. "Attention!" Everyone turned to him. "From now on we move as a team. I will take point. Ludovic, on my left, Hunter, on my right. Quidel, fall in behind Ludovic, Gallyn, behind the Hunter.

"Do I have to?" Quidel began whining. "Ludovic's sooo slow, and he never lets me blow anything up!" Ludovic didn't look very happy with the idea of having a walking bomb behind him, but stayed silent.

Gedeon glared at Quidel fiercely. "This is a direct order!"

Quidel's shoulders sagged. "Fine."

Samus didn't have time to think on the matter as she turned to face her own problem.

Gallyn was already standing just a few feet behind her; ready to move out once the order is called. Samus eyed the Medical Pirate carefully, noting her armor and energy scalpel. She became aware of the fact that Gallyn was studying her as well.

"Well?" Gallyn said in her clean, cold voice. "Any objections, Hunter?"

Samus still found Gallyn's words and gaze strangely unnerving. "No objections." Samus said as she turned and walked to her spot on the team, just a little behind and to the right of Gedeon, in front of the passage that would take them into the forest. "Of course." She added quietly, like an afterthought.

Gedeon turned to face the door and yelled, "Extraction team, form up!"

Once everyone took their places, they began to walk quickly, but cautiously to the door, taking in all of the passage's details. Samus noticed that the thorny vine was unharmed by the Shrieker Missile, and it seemed to have grown along the corner of the tunnel, and through the rock wall. It seemed to have entered the passage through an open section above the Chozo door, which Gedeon shot it open and they filed through.

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**Author's Note – Meant for the chapter to be longer, but since it's taken so long to update I decided to use the rest of this chapter to start the next one.**

**Don't forget to check my profile for update information about this and other fanfictions I plan to write.**


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